Backhoes commonly are designed to use more than one size of bucket. The size of the backhoe bucket selected for a particular task is determined by the requirements of the task. At any given job site, one bucket is frequently unsuitable for the various trenching and excavating tasks which must be performed. Therefore, two or more buckets need to be transported to the job site.
Generally, the extra bucket or buckets have been carried in the front loader bucket of the tractor. In the prior art, loading and unloading of an extra backhoe bucket into the front loader bucket presented a number of problems and difficulties. Either considerable assistance and manipulation were required, or the ground supporting the extra bucket, prior to its loading into the loader bucket, was frequently dug up or damaged.
More specifically, if loading of an extra backhoe bucket into the loader bucket of a tractor was to be accomplished by an operator at the controls of the tractor, the operator would have to scoop the backhoe bucket off the ground with the front loader bucket. This operation, because of the size, weight, and weight distribution of the backhoe bucket, necessitated scooping under the backhoe bucket in a manner disturbing the ground beneath it. Portions of the surface, whatever it might be, were scooped into the loader bucket along with the backhoe bucket. Indeed, because of the size and weight of the bucket, multiple attempts could often seriously disturb the ground material.
Not only was the surface disturbed, but the surface material was removed and transferred with the extra backhoe bucket to the new job site, where it was unloaded along with the extra backhoe bucket. And, the unloading operation, like the loading operation, often caused ground disturbance, particularly if carried out by a single operator.
These problems become particularly acute when excavation work is being carried out in areas other than completely new construction sites. Clearly there is a need for an improved system of transport for extra backhoe buckets.